LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Several events took place throughout the Southland on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

KNX 1070′s Ron Kilgore reports thousands of volunteers painted murals and took part in other beautification efforts at Belmont High School in the Westlake district.

Baseball Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, several former Los Angeles Dodger players and Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education President Monica Garcia were among the 1,000 volunteers on hand, officials said.

Over 100 volunteers joined Americorp members in painting murals and planting flowers at Bennett Kew Elementary in Inglewood.

In Orange County, hundreds of volunteers at the Orange County Food Bank assembled food boxes for the hungry in two-hour shifts until 4:00 p.m.

Jeff Williams, director of Leadership Long Beach, led an effort to harvest fruit from residential trees to benefit food banks in West Long Beach. He said the holiday marks the chance for the whole family to enjoy the day off together.

“We have a tree planting, a nature trail cleanup, and a couple of street cleanups going on, just trying to get the city involved,” said Williams.

For information on events in your area, visit the official MLK Day website.

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